It works both ways, dont wait on me. I'd much rather keep what im writing quiet, at any rate i wont be churning them out every second. i plan to write indepth with the aid of images so yours wont be the same. Quality over quantity

The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. Author: Thomas Paine

SulisHG Alumnus

posted
02-28-08 03:35
EST (US)
102 / 133

If you could let me know what you're after i'll be more than happy to do as many writups as needed

Firstly, thank you! As for what to include... everything?!?! Seriously, you probably have a better idea than I do what tutorials everyone is desperate for. Maybe split your work into brand new, never-seen-before stuff, the more commonly used tricks (e.g. snow/ice effect, himalaya) and some of the older stuff that has been around for a few years?

I'm happy to leave it up to you. Start new threads if you wish to promote what you're doing; I can make news items linking to your commentary in the forums so everyone knows what is being tackled.

Other members can help if they wish, but maybe we need someone to coordinate who does/can do what? This doesn't have to be a staff member either if you all agree between yourselves who will take the lead

WarLord_DesignsArcher

posted
02-28-08 03:46
EST (US)
103 / 133

Well this has to be done, i want people using the tricks we use and that can only happen once the majority know how to do them

I dont normally consider myself a leader but i'd like to take a lead on this project - i'll setup a thread where people can say what they are after in a tutorial, after which i'll tackle thier suggestion as quickly as i can.

I can only make this happen if the community lets me know what they need, lets hope i get some feedback

I do have a question though: how large should i make the images for the tutorials? or will you be able to resize them to fit on the website?if you could let me know the pixel height and width you'd like i'll resize them myself to save you some time.

For what it's worth regarding dimensions for graphics, my recollection is that on some pages the maximum width is something like 564 pixels. Going over that could make them disappear. I know I made some of mine just under that at 560 pixels to be safe. It may depend on which part of the site you are on. They don't all use the same formatting or style sheets. Staff can correct me if things are different or my memory is failing.

Going over this width may cause cut-off or even, I believe, in some browsers on some pages of the site, the picture not to display at all. I think I'm right on that. Reduced browser width will definitely cause cut-off.

But while 564 pixels may be the maximum I would recommend staying well under that if possible. Don't forget to consider that while members use various screen resolutions, they also may not be running their browser full screen. I know I don't, plus I use a side-tabbed browser, further cutting down view window width. The advantages I get for this in the forums and on the SHH sites are tremendous so well worth the width trade-off.

I recommend doing some browsing in the tutorials and walk-throughs with your browser not at full screen to get a feel for width sizing and cut-off by looking at currently displayed screen shots.

While you can right click and choose "properties" to see the displayed size of graphics in many browsers, I sometimes use a handy little tool (there may be others) for measurements called Screen Calipers. It's shareware and stated that the trial version may be evaluated for as long as you need to at www.iconico.com.

Yes, 500 pixels is a much better width to consider as maximum, ericgolf. A lot of mine were 500, 520, even under 500. The 560 width ones of which I spoke were of entire castles, including moat, so even at that width detail was quite small.

I probably should add one more suggestion. Always try to keep the width down where possible, especially for logos, objects, and screen shots of small areas or particular buildings. It will help your article flow and look better on the page. If some widths are narrow enough text can run around them on one side or the other which really helps integrate them into your article. There's nothing better than reading some instruction or explanation and having a graphic right beside it instead of above or below.

Many graphics used in author's write-ups in the downloads section are far too big in my opinion and work against the readability and flow of the story and instructions they are trying to convey. Many of the wider screen shots end up clipped on the right in anything but the largest of browser windows.

Oh yes, I had forgotten in my previous post, check out the Castle of the Weeks in the archive, too, for some effective sizings and integration with text. Based on current site formatting you'll notice that 300-320 pixels is a pretty effective maximum width for use with text run arounds, although I've gone as high as 360 pixels in at least one instance.

WarLord_DesignsArcher

posted
02-29-08 00:41
EST (US)
109 / 133

all well and good and i totally agree with you however my diagrams will be a little hard to see if i go lower than 500 pixels, they involve single tiles in the editor and arrows ect ect...

I want to give instructions by both text and visually so the pictures may have to be 500ish wide